The South African Paint Manufacturing Association has urged the government to start prosecuting unscrupulous paint producers who are still including hazardous lead levels in their paints.

At a Lead in the Workplace workshop in Pretoria organised by the Department of Labour, Deryck Spence, executive director of SAPMA, said it was time to ‘name and shame’ offenders.

“This can only happen if the government stopped merely threatening to take action against the culprits but actually make an example of them and prosecute them. SAPMA has done everything in its power to warn lead-using producers – whether SAPMA members or not – but we now require the strong arm of the government to name and shame manufacturers who still ignore anti-lead legislation,” Spence told the workshop.

“SAPMA members would welcome such prosecutions because it would be in accordance with our ethical views and strategies since the major brands, having already eliminated lead in the decorative market, are diligently working towards the total elimination of lead in the manufacture of paint, including industrial products like road-marking paints,” he added.

At the Pretoria workshop, speakers who included Prof Angela Mathee, director of the Medical Research Council’s Environmental Health Research Unit, again warned that negligible improvement had been made in reducing lead levels in enamel paints despite legislation and the attempts of SAPMA to eliminate the source.

Prof Mathee stated that it was the intention of the Government to further reduce the level of lead in paint in accordance with GAELIP (Global Alliance for the Elimination of Lead in Paint) from 600ppm to 90ppm and that ‘stuck on’ lead warning labelling would be in future be banned and that lead warnings instead would have to form part of the paint container’s actual wording and design.

Spence, in response, stated that although SAPMA endorsed all the speakers’ integrity in highlighting the problem and sources of lead, the facts regarding lead in paint should be placed in perspective. “It should be remembered that 80% of decorative paint is water-based and contains no lead. Lead pigments are traditionally used to obtain the rich colours in oil-based enamels such as reds yellow, greens etc. As the majority of enamel sold is white, this reduces the lead factor even further since ‘coloured’ enamels represent only about 4% of decorative sales,” he told the workshop.

Spence also stated that although SAPMA membership represented about 90% of the product manufactured in SA, membership in numerical numbers was 110 manufacturers out of a market estimated to be in excess of 300. “SAPMA membership is voluntary and accordingly, many manufacturers do not take up membership because of our strict Codes of Ethics and Conduct - which include the elimination of lead in decorative paints available to the public. Consequently, since the alternatives to lead pigments are significantly more costly than leaded pigments, unscrupulous manufacturers continue to use leaded pigments to gain a competitive edge over companies using the more expensive alternatives.”

Spence also said there was major confusion within the government legislation which, although restricting the use of lead in the “retail” sector, allowed lead pigments to be used in the Industrial market on the premise that the public could not buy them.

“Leaded enamels can be sold in small containers providing they are labelled that it contained lead. This has led to an anomaly in that enamels containing lead are used in the manufacture of children’s playground equipment because the manufacture was termed ‘industrial’. But it nevertheless presents a major threat to children who use the equipment. We believe current Legislation should be revised to eliminate such anomalies.

“SAPMA will continue to support the battle against lead in paint - but we now need the Government to fulfil its role as custodians of the Legislation,” Spence added.

He was subsequently approached by officials of the Department of Health and assured of their cooperation in this matter.